Eagles had bigger stars

NFL

NFL

November 24, 2009|DAVID HAUGH Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO -- Days before the Bears' 24-20 loss to the Eagles, Olin Kreutz challenged his teammates, saying stars need to play like stars in games this big. Kreutz didn't name names. But everybody knew what he meant. So naturally the 54th guy on the roster signed off the practice squad Friday answered the bell better than any Bear. Kahlil Bell, that is. If you have never heard of Bell or can't spell his first name without peeking, don't feel too badly. He is an undrafted free agent from UCLA. Rest assured it never crossed Bob Costas' mind to ask to speak with Bell and it never would occur to him to say no if Costas had. You can't even find Bell's name on the flip card handed out to the media. Expect to hear it called more often after his 72-yard run in the first half -- the Bears' longest in 20 years -- gave the offense its only real spark of the night. Do you congratulate the Bears for giving the kid a chance or criticize them for taking two months to promote him? That question was less pressing as time ran out in the Bears' sixth loss than the one Kreutz raised when he put more focus on Cutler, even if that wasn't his intent. The Bears needed their quarterback to match the level of Donovan McNabb's. He didn't. Six plays after getting the ball at the Bears' 21 with 1:50 left and a chance to be the star Kreutz challenged him to be, Cutler threw his 18th interception. Linebacker Tracy White tipped a pass Cutler telegraphed for Greg Olsen, and safety Sean Jones picked it off. "Frustrating," Cutler said. Meanwhile, one quarter earlier McNabb hit DeSean Jackson with a 48-yard TD to give the Eagles their clutch play. Cutler responded with a gutsy drive that culminated with a nicely placed 15-yard TD pass to tight end Kellen Davis, but this wasn't Cutler's night. It's safe to say it's not his year. The Davis TD showed the type of touch missing in past games as the Bears so often left the red zone red-faced. That was the precision that frankly Cutler hadn't proven he was capable of providing against the Eagles until that throw. Whether Cutler was pressing or suffering from effects of diabetes -- which he strongly shot down after the game -- he spent most of four quarters shaking his head. Just like the rest of us. The biggest source of frustration came in the first half when Cutler slightly overthrew two straight receivers on plays that would have been touchdowns. On the first, Olsen got wide open on a play-action fake but the ball bounced off his fingertips. It would have been a difficult catch but, in fairness, guys in the stratosphere Olsen wants to live make that catch. The second overthrow required no debate. Devin Hester made a great fake to shake Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel. The pass sailed badly over Hester and the Bears had to settle for a field goal. "I don't know what you want me to say, I missed the throw," Cutler said. He defied belief again early in the second quarter when, with the Bears in the red zone for the first time all game, Cutler tried to force the ball to Olsen between three defenders. Rookie safety Macho Harris broke up the pass. He should have intercepted it. By the time Cutler's third-down pass went over everybody's head on the Bears' second unsuccessful trip into the red zone, doubts grew, boos resurfaced. "There's no explanation," Lovie Smith said. "He missed some throws." OK, but if this was a game the stars were supposed to shine why was the Bears' brightest one hiding again in the night sky? Even Smith acknowledged that if the Bears didn't have to settle for field goals on even one of those drives, the defense wouldn't have been put in the position to protect a fourth-quarter lead it couldn't. Al Afalava could have made a better play on the ball on Jackson's touchdown. Danieal Manning could have avoided whiffing on Michael Vick's 34-yard run. The run defense could have been more stout on LeSean McCoy's game-winning 10-yard TD run when linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer got out of his gap. But Cutler was supposed to increase the margin for error, not keep it razor-thin. The defense did create three turnovers and devise ways to pressure the quarterback. It wasn't good enough but it wasn't the reason the Bears lost. As Kreutz accurately pointed out, this was when the Bears needed their stars to play like stars. And the Eagles just had a bigger, better constellation. After the game, McNabb held Cutler tight as he talked into his ear. Cutler wouldn't reveal what McNabb said other than to say, "He's a first-class dude." Just one star sharing with another star what it takes to win games like these. Hope Cutler's hearing was better than his accuracy.